In this articles I concentrate on the straight hand position in bowling or the straight release.
Bowling Hand Positions. - There are many different hand positions in bowling. I am only going to start out with a few basic ones. Cupped, Straight, and Broken are the 3 basic vertical hand positions. The 3 basic horizontal wrist positions are 12 o'clock, 10:30, and 9 o'clock. Using different combinations of these changing hand positions in bowling will affect the ball roll. This affect causes the bowling ball to have earlier roll or later roll. It can cause different angles to the pocket and cause the ball to hook or roll at different spots on the bowling lane. At times and it can substitute for bowling ball speed problems. These basic wrist combinations, along with different finger positions in gripping the bowling ball, may be all that’s needed. Try them before changing bowling lane lines, bowling equipment, or bowling ball layouts.
1. The Straight Release - The straight release, or straight hand position, is when your wrist is straight. Your fingers and hand are straight or flat with no break in the wrist. This is a medium hand position. It should be used as a starting point. The bowler should adjust from here. This will cause a medium ball reaction. It is now called an old school release. (Note: most straight bowlers or strokers like this wrist position).
The Illustration below shows and example of a cupped hand position
(Note: these are for right handed bowlers - reverse for left handers).
